BIRDS-EYE VIEW

Sweet hills and
blazing deserts
foaming seas
and countless
bright blooming valleys

My binoculars
the eyes through which
these lands i explore
bump softly
on my chest

On my lips
i taste
the sea salt
its wet dryness
and cruel force

On my skin
i feel
deserts so scorching
yet so inviting
i shiver under their touch

In my eyes
i drink
the endless shades
of greens, of rivers
of luxuriant valleys

My lungs
burn
from eager
unquenchable thirst
insatiable breaths

And my heart
oh my poor heart
trembles
clenches
swells

My poor little heart
nearly leaves
my chest
from longing
from yearning

Feet steady
legs strong
unwavering
determined
my body pursues its journey

Left and right
beauty and horror
flowers and springs
deserts and seas
unfold

And i advance
sure and
steadfast
yet crumbling
on my journey

Recalling how
i ended up on my path
on this crest
is still too much
to bear

Somewhere
the map got lost
all i now have
are dreams
and glimpses

If i look
down
at my feet
my head
starts spinning

So high up
this glorious mountain
i am
i ended up being
i proceed

Sharp as a knife
steep as
only a nightmare
can fathom
yet she is mine

I know
her every rock
her every crease
i trust
this path on her crest

Squinting my eyes
i can see
people
peoples
so many

The wind
carries their voices
their laughter
their wailing
their crying

Beauty and horror
love and despair
joy
and oh so much
suffering

Too much
i avert
my eyes
i shut
my ears

One foot after
the other
steady
steady
i keep going on my crest

A few steps
rocks rolling
softly
menacing
down the mountain side

A few dozens
steps
and my tears
dry
i feel salty and empty

Years ago
when i did not know
a map
went missing
even existed

i would be
surprised
at this feeling of
saltiness and
emptiness

When
and why
did my eyes
tear up
and why

Now i hold
my hand-written
incomplete
sketch of a
map

and when i cry
i do so
with all my being
all my senses
all my heart

When my
birds-eye view
offers me
glimpses of lives
an abundance of existence

When i see
people gathering
fighting
laughing
dancing

When i see
my people
creating
loving
living

i know why
my eyes
produce
such generous amounts
of salty water

Rudimental
incomplete map
in its creases
so much sweat
and pain

A glimpse at it
nowadays
is all i need
to be able
to know

Camels and donkeys
their elongated
shadows
on endless
sandy waves

Gulls and cormorants
careless
and fierce
over foamy dunes
hunt and play

Women and wolves
howl
trot
raise their
cubs

Men
wooden masks
kill and dominate
hurt
each other

Yet it is
men
women
wonderful people of all
genders

who collect
the bones
the broken
pieces
who mend

I spy
on them
my amplifying
glass eyes
distorting them

I spy
on their efforts
their joy
their sweat
and tears

My heart
expands
embraces
yet refuses
to be embraced

Thick clouds
of fear
– or are those tears?
blur my lenses
my senses

Further and further
i keep going
till i
yet again
lose them

Leave
first
in order to
not be left
behind

Will i ever
map etched
secured
onto my heart
– leap

Will i ever
listen
believe
the ancient
voices

Will i ever
throw
my trusted eyes
away
for good

and finally
trust
my past
my Self
my wings?